GOOD NEWS FROM JIMMY SMITH AFTER KNEE SURGERY

Club captain Jimmy Smith has updated Reds fans on his progress since knee surgery earlier in the season.

The midfielder suffered the injury at Oldham on September 1 and had his operation later that month.

Jimmy, 31, has been doing six hours of daily rehabilitation but has also been working with our management team of Gabrielle Cioffi and Nathan Rooney in the technical area on matchdays.

Interviewed in this Saturday’s match programme for the home game against Northampton, Jimmy revealed that his recovery was ahead of schedule.

He said: “I’m hoping to be back by March all being well but the priority for me when I do come back is I am 100% right and I don’t have any more issues with the knee in the future.

“It’s been a long few weeks but I am determined to return better than ever and hopefully help us have a strong finish to the season.”

Before Gabrielle Cioffi’s appointment, Jimmy had a three-game spell as caretaker manager with Filipe Morais and hopes to go into full-time coaching when his playing career finishes.

“That is something I am definitely interested in,” he revealed. “I have played with a lot of good players and worked under a lot of good coaches and managers and hopefully I can pass all that experience on in the future.”

Jimmy has played 170 games for the club since joining in 2014 when John Gregory was manager and recently signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until 2020, with the possibility of a one-year extension.

Read the full interview with the skipper in Saturday’s edition of The Reds. On sale from Friday.